232    The Bible and the Future of the World 

13:6). The house of his friends is the Church, which shall sharply and 

successfully correct those who have opposed the teachings of the Church. 

God Prepares His Church to Suffer 

      `In the whole land, says the L

ORD

, two thirds shall be cut off and perish, 

and one third shall be left alive. And I will put this third into the fire, and 

refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested.'    

(Zech 13:8.9). 

    This time of repentance and conversion and healing is a gift which God 

gives to the Church and the world to strengthen us to bear the sufferings 

which God is about to send upon the earth. God gives these gifts to us so 

that we will have the understanding and holiness and spiritual strength 

which we will need when God sends down His punishments upon this sinful 

world. These punishments will cause, over a long period of time, the deaths 

of a large percentage (about two thirds) of the human race all over the earth 

(from 2009/2010 to the late  2039 or early 2040). These gifts of grace and 

conversion and cleansing will strengthen the faithful in preparation for that 

time of great suffering. The Church and the world will have to endure a long 

series of trials and punishments during the Forty Years (especially once the 

sufferings of the Seven Seals in the book of Revelation begin). These special 

gifts from God will greatly help the faithful and the Church  during those 

years of great suffering. 

Thanks be to God who made Heaven and earth.